Litigator Joins Adams and Reese in Baton Rouge

(BATON ROUGE, La.) - Adams and Reese is pleased to announce that energy, construction and tax attorney Michael T. Durham has joined the firm’s Baton Rouge office as Special Counsel. Durham was formerly an attorney with Crawford Lewis in Baton Rouge.

Practicing law since 2002, Durham has experience in energy, construction, economic development, litigation, and taxation and tax credit development. He has successfully litigated numerous complex energy and construction matters before state and federal courts in Louisiana and Colorado, as well as before the American Arbitration Association and other independent arbitration panels.

In addition to his litigation experience, Durham has represented Fortune 500 companies and other entities on the legal, technical and financial aspects of energy and construction development projects, and he has negotiated and structured tax credit syndicate transactions involving New Markets Tax Credits, Louisiana Film Tax Credits, Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds and utilizing other economic development solutions.

In 2011, Durham negotiated and teamed with clients to jointly structure the first state energy efficiency performance contract in Louisiana since 2003. He also has represented clients before local, state and national regulatory agencies and has been instrumental in the drafting and passage of federal and state energy and tax legislation.

“Michael has been heavily involved and instrumental in several, high-profile economic development projects throughout the state of Louisiana through his energy, construction and tax legal work, and we are excited to have him join Adams and Reese,” said Tom Clark, Partner in Charge of the Adams and Reese Baton Rouge office.

Durham frequently lectures legal and trade organizations on issues pertaining to his practice. In 2010, he chaired a panel at the World Energy Engineering Conference in Chicago on legal aspects of sustainability. He is an active member of the construction, taxation and corporate/business sections of the Louisiana and American Bar Associations. He is also a member of the Energy Bar Association, Baton Rouge Bar Association and Colorado Bar Association.

Durham was educated in civilian and common law and received his J.D. and B.C.L. (Bachelor of Civil Law) in 2002 at Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center, which familiarized him with the intricacies of both the national and global legal environment. In 2003, he obtained an LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Denver and practiced law in Colorado for three years before returning to Louisiana. He received a B.S. degree in 1999 from McNeese State University.